Random House
€2.142 billion Euros (2012) | numemployees = 5,712 (as of December 31, 2012) | nasdaq = | url = }} Random House is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann and global education and publishing company Pearson PLC. Random House also has an entertainment production arm for film and television, Random House Studio, of which the most recent release was One Day. The company also creates story content for media including video games, social networks on the web, and mobile platforms. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the joint venture. History Bertelsmann acquired Random House in 1998. In October 2012, Bertelsmann entered into talks with rival conglomerate Pearson plc, over the possibility of combining their respective publishing companies, Random House and Penguin, and the merge completed on 1 July 2013. Random House, USA thumb|left|200px|[[wikipedia:Random House Tower|Random House Tower headquarters, New York City|]] Random House was founded in 1927 by Americans Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer, two years after they acquired the Modern Library imprint, reprints of classic works of literature, from publisher Horace Liveright. Cerf is quoted as saying, "We just said we were going to publish a few books on the side at random," which suggested the name Random House.C250.columbia.edu, Bennet Alfred Cerf Biography Its American divisions currently include the Crown Publishing Group, the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, the Random House Publishing Group, and Random House Children's Books. Random House entered reference publishing in 1947 with the American College Dictionary, which was followed in 1966 by its first unabridged dictionary. Today it publishes the Random House Dictionary of the English Language and Random House Webster's College dictionaries, probably the main competitors for Merriam-Webster reference titles. The American publishers Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. and Pantheon Books were acquired by Random House in 1960 and 1961, respectively; works continue to be published under these imprints with editorial independence, such as Everyman's Library, a series of classical literature reprints. Random House has been the distributor for Shambhala Publications since 1974. They also currently distribute Rizzoli Books, National Geographic Books, Steerforth Press, Wizards of the Coast, Vertical Inc., Welcome Books, The New York Review of Books, Titan Books, Other Press, Kodansha Manga, Hatherleigh Press, North Atlantic Books, Monacelli Press Books, and DC Comics. In 1998, Bertelsmann AG bought Random House and it soon went global.Random House Company History, from Fundinguniverse.com. Accessed April 13, 2008. The publisher's main U.S. office is located at 1745 Broadway in Manhattan, in the 684-foot Random House Tower, completed in 2003 and spanning the entire west side of the block between West 55th Street and West 56th. Its lobby showcases floor-to-ceiling glassed-in bookcases filled with books published by the company's many imprints. Earlier addresses were 457 Madison Avenue, New York 22, NY; 20 East 57th Street, New York 22, NY; and 201 East 50th Street, New York, NY 10022. International branches Random House, Inc. maintains several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. The Random House Group is one of the largest general book publishing companies in the UK and is based in London. The Group comprises five publishing companies: Cornerstone Publishing, Vintage Publishing, Ebury Publishing, Random House Children's Publishers UK and Transworld Publishers, boasting more than 40 diverse and highly respected imprints. Its distribution business services its own imprints as well as 60 other UK publishers. The Random House archive and library is located in Rushden in Northamptonshire. The Random House Group also operates branches in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa (as a joint venture under the name Random House Struik), and India as part of its overseas structure. In Australia offices are in Sydney and Melbourne. In New Zealand it is based in Glenfield, Auckland, while Random House's Indian headquarters are located in New Delhi. Verlagsgruppe Random House was established after Bertelsmann's 1998 acquisition of Random House, grouping its German imprints (until then operating as Verlagsgruppe Bertelsmann) under the new name. It is the second largest book publisher in Germany with more than 40 imprints, including historic publishing houses Goldmann and Heyne, as well as C. Bertelsmann, the publishing house from which today's Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA would eventually evolve. Verlagsgruppe Random House is headquartered in Munich (with additional locations in Gütersloh, Cologne, and Aßlar), employs about 850 people, and publishes roughly 2.500 titles per year. Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial is Random House's Spanish-language division, targeting markets in Spain and South and Central America. It is headquartered in Barcelona with locations in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Uruguay. From 2001 until November 2012, it was a joint venture with Italian publisher Mondadori (Random House Mondadori). Upon Bertelsmann's acquisition of Mondadori's stake in the JV, the name was kept temporarily four months. Random House of CanadaRandom House of Canada was established in 1944 as the Canadian distributor of Random House Books. In 1986 the company established its own indigenous Canadian publishing program that has become one of the most successful in Canadian history. Until January 2012 it used to hold a 25% stake in McClelland & Stewart, with the remaining 75% being controlled by the University of Toronto. It is now the sole owner of McClelland & Stewart. In late 2009 and early 2010, respectively, Random House discontinued their Japanese joint venture Random House Kodansha, which had been established in 2003, and also divested their four-year ownership of Random House Korea. The company has since named Random House Australia managing director Margie Seale responsible for exploring and evaluating potential future business opportunities in Asia.Benet.bertelsman.com Divisions and imprints Random House, USA publishers "Our publishers". Random House. Crown Publishing Group * Amphoto Books * Back Stage Books * Billboard Books * Broadway * Broadway Business * Clarkson Potter * Convergent * Crown * Crown Business * Crown Forum * Doubleday Religion * Harmony Books * Hogarth Press * Potter Craft * Potter Style * Ten Speed Press * Three Rivers Press * Tricycle Press * Shaye Areheart Books * WaterBrook Multnomah * Watson-Guptill Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group * Alfred A. Knopf * Anchor BooksVintage Books page, Random House. * Doubleday * Everyman's Library * Nan A. TaleseNan A. Talese page, Random House. * Pantheon Books * Schocken Books * Vintage Random House Publishing Group * Ballantine Books * Bantam * Delacorte * Del Rey * Del Rey / Lucas Books * Dell * The Dial Press * The Modern Library * One World * Presido Press * Random House Trade Group * Random House Trade Paperbacks * Spectra * Spiegel & Grau * Villard Books ;Random House Value Publishing "Permissions". Random House Copyright & Permissions Web Page. Random House. * Children's Classics * Crescent Books * Derrydale * Gramercy Books * Testament Books * Wings Books Random House Children's Books * Random House Children's Books (Kids@Random) * Beginner Books * David Fickling Books * Nickelodeon Books (2012-) * Delacorte Press * Golden BooksLittle Golden Books. Random House. * Prima Games * Step Into Reading * Schwartz & Wade * Stepping Stone Books * Sylvan Learning * Wendy Lamb Books Digital Publishing Group * Alibi * Flirt * Fodor's Travel * Hydra * Listening Library * Living Language * Loveswept * Princeton Review * Random House Audio * Random House Large Print Random House International The Random House Group ;Cornerstone Publishing *Arrow *Century *William Heinemann *Hutchinson *Preface *Random House Books *Random House Business Books *Random House Audio *Tanoshimi Manga *Windmill ;Vintage Publishing *Chatto & Windus *Harvill Secker *Jonathan Cape *Pimlico *Square Peg *The Bodley Head *Vintage Classics *Yellow Jersey ;Ebury Publishing *BBC Books *Ebury Press *Vermilion *Rider *Time Out Books *Virgin Books ;Transworld Publishers *Corgi *Bantam *Black Swan *Channel 4 *Doubleday *Eden Project *Expert *Transworld Ireland *Transworld Sport ;Random House Children's Publishers UK *Bantam *Jonathan Cape *Corgi *David Fickling Books *Doubleday *Eden Project *Red Fox *Hutchinson *Tamarind *The Bodley Head ;Mainstream Publishing *Mainstream Publishing Verlagsgruppe Random House *adeo *Ansata *Ariston *Arkana *Bassermann *Blanvalet *Blessing *btb *carl's books *C. Bertelsmann *cbj audio *cbj avanti *cbj Kinder- und Jugendbücher *cbt Jugendbücher *Der Hörverlag *Diana *Diederichs *DVA *Edition Elke Heidenreich *Gerth Medien *Goldmann *Gütersloher Verlagshaus *Heyne *Integral *Irisiana *Kailash *Knaus *Kösel *Limes *Lotos *Luchterhand Literaturverlag *Ludwig *Manesse *Manhattan *Mosaik bei Goldmann *Paige & Turner *Pantheon *Penhaligon *Prestel *Random House Audio *Random House Entertainment *Riemann *Siedler *Sphinx *Südwest *Tag & Nacht Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial * Beascoa * Caballo de Troya * Collins * Conecta * Debate * Debolsillo * Electa * Fantascy * Flash * Grijalbo * Grijalbo ilustrados * Literatura Random House * Lumen * Lumen infantil * Montena * Nube de Tinta * Plaza & Janés * Random * Rosa dels Vents * Sudamericana (Argentina) Random House of Canada ;The Knopf Random Canada Publishing Group *Knopf Canada *Random House Canada *Seal Books *Vintage Canada ;The McClelland & Stewart Doubleday Canada Publishing Group *Anchor Canada *Appetite by Random House *Bond Street *Doubleday Canada *Douglas Gibson Books *Emblem *Tundra Books *Journey Prize Stories *New Canadian Library ;Random House Australia ;Random House India ;Random House New Zealand *Godwit Press ;Random House Struik (South Africa) Fenn/M&S Fenn/Tundra See also *List of English language book publishers *List of largest UK book publishers *Media of New York City *publishing References External links * Official website * Category:Random House Category:Book publishing companies based in New York Category:Companies based in New York City Category:Publishing companies established in 1927 Category:1927 establishments in New York Category:Bertelsmann subsidiaries